Posted
by
samzenpus
on Wednesday April 13, 2011 @02:01PM
from the I'm-having-trouble-hearing-you-dave dept.

mikejuk writes "Microsoft has given more information on the Kinect SDK to be released later in the year. It will include the body tracking software that is used by the Xbox version of the Kinect, allowing it to track up to two people at the same time and stay locked on to them even if they leave and re-enter the frame. In addition, they promise to allow the microphone array to be used with the PC's speech recognition API. So, not only will future Kinect projects be able to track you — they can listen to what you say."

Wow, seems like everyone has missed the point of this article.
Microsoft is releasing an SDK for Kinect development on non XBox hardware [i.e., normal computers].
This article say which Kinect features would be accessible via this SDK [camera? depth tracking? voice tracking? body tracking? etc.].
This has nothing to do with the XBox tracking you.

This has nothing to do with "normal computers", it's about a Windows specific SDK and it has nothing to do with those who are already using the Kinect using open source SDKs other than make them look over the shoulder and say "so?".

And "later in the year". WTF is taking them so long to release and SDK for Windows for that thing anyways? Oh, that's right, it's not about selling more Kinects, it's about how to develop the plan which will lock users into a platform(XBox or Windows). yawn.

Wow buddy, you seem pissed off. Let me calm you down by saying nobody gives a shit about your attitude or wild anti-microsoft assertions. The bottom line is Microsoft could piss diamonds all over your bedroom and shit poop all over your enemies and you would still find something to bitch about.

Microsoft doesn't develop on my schedule and hackers have already put out SDKs. I don't know why their commercial offering would take a while, its almost as if corporations don't move as fast as small teams! I don't understaaaaand! Why would anybody care about the manufacturer of a device supporting something we all want? I'm going to complain about it! That's you, and you sound pathetic.

Actually, the fact that there is a development kit coming out for what is, truthfully, a pretty innovative device, sort of makes me feel like there is a division of microsoft that is warring against the greater evil that is microsoft.

You should probably read articles and know what you're talking about before commenting on them. You may be pretty sure.. i don't know based on what... though you're completely wrong. Microsoft Research are the team behind the kinect sdk for Windows.

"U.S. scientists on Tuesday unveiled the world's first computerized human brain map, an online public resource developed to accelerate understanding of how the human brain works and in hopes to tackle neurological diseases like Alzeimer's and Parkinson's. Funded by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, the 55-million-U.S. dollar project, named the Allen Human Brain Atlas, identifies 1,000 anatomical sites in the human brain, backed by more than 100 million data point

I dont think anybody can understand the severity of this issue!!!This is like having a government police inside doors 24/7!

Then it comes the Thought Police - which is technically more easy to do then one can imagine! Human brain functions between 6 and 16Hz if im not mistaken!That console can obviously have an upgrade and have your thoughts scanned! So if you live in the US and have bad thoughts you can expect that your gonna go to jail in the next 5 years! This is the complete loosing of Freedom incrementa

Microsoft doesn't have an advertising arm [microsoft.com], nor is it aggressively moving into IPTV services [microsoft.com]. Their software platforms also have an excellent record of never being compromised, and the Kinect makes it trivially evident when its mics and/or camera are active.

Thus, there is no possible way in which this could be sinister. I was worried there for a minute...

That would be trivial to fix. It would just need to be able to recognize one single command to activate the full speech recognition. Everything else can just be considered gibberish to the phone. Think ST:TNG "Computer" command that the crew uses to issue commands to the computer. Of course, "Computer" is a stupid command to user for that, since it is a word that is commonly used in conversation. A gibberish new made up word would be better particularly if it had a easily processed different form for u

We had a Magellan GPS years ago that responded to its name. It did a good job of constantly listening for voice commands --except when we had conversations about famous Portuguese explorers [wikipedia.org], of course.

The android app VLingo has a mode you can turn on for use in the car or other situations where you can't use your hands. It tends to eat battery so you definitely want to have the phone plugged in when you use it.

Try Vlingo. You can set it up to listen for a key phrase like "hey vlingo!" and it will start listening for commands. It's really handy when you're driving. Note that your phone is definitely not idling while its processing audio input and waiting for a key phrase.

I haven't inspected the tech myself, but If that's a stereo microphone (that is, a left and a right microphone), some added audio analysis would allow you to track who said what at the same time. Simultaneous audio commands, anyone? That'd be some nifty stuff.

No, the news item is that Microsoft isn't just putting motion tracking capabilities into the SDK, but they are also putting in the microphone capabilities. Jeez, you guys are reading way too much into this.

it has 4 mics, and apparently they do a whole lot of audio processing formerly considered impossible, like distinguishing multiple voices at a distance & noise-cancelling multiple sources. for example, they can do voice recognition on two different players while ignoring the sound coming from the TV, stereo, vacuum cleaner, etc...

The device which I installed in my living room to track my movement and record what I say in order to play games and video conference....is going to track my movement and record what I say! M$ does it again! When will the tyranny stop? Oh the humanity!

Hi, I'm HAL1000, the Kinect Guide. Are you having trouble opening the pod bay doors? First, try accessing the Kinect Guide Menu by assuming the pause position, where your left hand is 45 degrees out from your body and your right hand is against your body. Next, hover your hand over the "Kinect Tuner" button. Follow the instructions, as we make you walk around the room and do silly poses for no good reason. Then repeat the words on screen, out loud, no matter how ridiculous or incriminating they might sound, as these phrases were chosen at random. Finally, find that cue card that came with one of your games. We didn't actually write what it was ON the cue card, but we figured you'd know what it was and that you wouldn't toss it out as completely useless.

Now, try the Open the "pod bay doors" gesture, as indicated on the screen. Place both hands in front of you, and seperate them till your arms are 90 degrees out from your body.

Still not working? Well, you can turn on your controller and press x...

just a moment...just a moment...

I'm detecting large amounts of profanities and I believe you said "Why didn't you tell me that first?". Is that correct?

...who read this and started looking around and measuring their living room, trying to decide how to move everything around to get a decent layout, so I can use this to get a whole Minority Report interface going?